The Unmoving Bride

“Shang Bieye continued to inquire. ‘He’s my friend, and that time mirror belongs to him.’ ‘That’s really strange,’ Yu Yangfeng suddenly spoke up. ‘What’s strange?’ Yan Xinmeng didn’t understand why he would suddenly say such a thing. ‘The strange part is why he doesn’t look for it himself, but instead asks you, someone who has never seen that mirror, to look for it?’ Yu Yangfeng asked, puzzled. ‘Because he’s busy!’ Yan Xinmeng answered, glossing over the real issue. ‘Just because he’s busy, he has to send you, a frail woman, out to search? Doesn’t he have any other friends?’ Shang Bieye disagreed, feeling she hadn’t explained everything clearly. ‘Hehe!’ Yan Xinmeng laughed awkwardly. ‘Stop playing dumb! Tell me the truth!’ Shang Bieye glared at her. ‘He does have other friends, but none of them are available, and if we can’t find the time mirror…’ ‘What happens if we can’t find it?’ Shang Bieye pressed. ‘Yeah, what happens if we can’t find it?’ Bu Yuchen also asked. ‘Well, if the time mirror isn’t found, many people won’t be able to reincarnate on time, and then the order of the universe will be thrown into chaos,’ Yan Xinmeng whispered. So, this time mirror not only has the power to alter the course of events but also has a significant impact on the universe’s order. It was only when Yan Xinmeng mentioned this that everyone realized there was such a secret about the time mirror. But even if it’s such a crucial matter, it seems to have nothing to do with her. Why would she be the one to look for it? There’s definitely something odd here. What exactly is it? Shang Bieye pondered deeply. ‘By the way! Now it’s my turn to ask you,’ Yan Xinmeng remembered she also had questions. ‘Oh, you have questions for us?’ Shang Bieye raised his eyebrows, looking directly at her. ‘Of course! After you’ve asked me, it’s my turn to ask you.’ ‘Go ahead and ask!’ Shang Bieye nodded in agreement. ‘I calculated the time, you should have left the Shang household before me, right?’ ‘Did we?’ Shang Bieye laughed it off. ‘Of course, I had the help of Brother Niu Qi, which is why I got to the main road so quickly. According to Brother Niu Qi, it would take half a day by horse. So, you left before I did, didn’t you?’ Yan Xinmeng squinted her eyes, staring at Shang Bieye. ‘Old Wu, I’m going shopping, do you want to come with me?’ Bu Yuchen quickly stood up and walked briskly to the door. ‘Sure! I also need to look for some herbs outside, I’ll go with you,’ Wu Yangfeng also hurried to the door, leaving only Shang Bieye and Yan Xinmeng in the hall. ‘Xinmeng, listen to me, this matter…’ ‘Oh my, this little rabbit, you’ve dirtied your clothes in just one morning, I’m going to teach you a lesson!’ Aunt Qian yelled loudly. ‘Mom, it hurts! Mom, stop twisting!’ Little Potato cried out in pain. ‘Hurt! You know it hurts, yet you run to Xiao Liuzi’s house every day, coming back all filthy. Do you think your mother has nothing better to do than wash clothes for you two?’ Aunt Qian’s voice was sharp and loud. ‘Mom, I won’t do it again, please don’t hit me anymore! It hurts so much—’ Little Potato cried out as if he was being severely beaten. ‘Oh, you dare to fake that sound, fine! You want to cry, you want to scream, I’ll really make you cry and scream!’ Aunt Qian rolled up her sleeves, ready to ‘attend’ to Little Potato, but no matter how she looked, she couldn’t find the family discipline stick. ‘How strange! Where did the family stick go?’ Aunt Qian searched for a long time, flipping everything over, but couldn’t find it. Suddenly, she caught Little Potato’s eyes darting around suspiciously. She knew immediately that the rascal must have hidden it. ‘Tell me! Where did you hide the family stick?’ Aunt Qian asked, hands on her hips, angrily. Little Potato was startled and quickly tried to run out, bumping into Yan Xinmeng who was just coming in. ‘Little Potato, what are you doing, why so rushed that you don’t even look where you’re going?’ Yan Xinmeng saw stars from the collision. ‘Brother Xinmeng, my mom! My mom’s going to hit me!’ As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed away like a bolt of lightning. ‘Little Potato, come back here—’ Aunt Qian yelled at the top of her lungs. Wow, what a loud voice, she’d definitely win a ‘loudmouth’ contest, Yan Xinmeng covered her ears with a wry smile to avoid rupturing her eardrums. Seeing Yan Xinmeng’s reaction, Aunt Qian felt embarrassed and apologized, ‘Brother Xinmeng, I’m really sorry for making a spectacle.’ Yan Xinmeng shook her head, indicating it was no big deal. Seeing Yan Xinmeng’s smiling face, Aunt Qian suddenly remarked, ‘Brother Xinmeng, you look much better when you smile, even I am charmed. It’s a pity those eyes of yours, more enchanting than a woman’s, otherwise, you’d surely have many young girls falling for you.’ ‘Aunt Qian, you’re joking,’ Yan Xinmeng laughed dryly, quickly changing the subject, ‘Did Little Potato upset you again?’ ‘Sigh,’ Aunt Qian sighed, bending down to pick up the laundry basket and walking outside, talking as she went, ‘It’s always the same, I told him not to run around outside all the time, hoping he’d study more, but this child, no matter what I say, he won’t listen. I can only blame his fate; his father died early. If his father were here to watch over him, he wouldn’t be like a wild child with no one to care for him.’ Yan Xinmeng silently followed Aunt Qian outside, unsure of what to say to comfort her. At the well, watching Aunt Qian struggle to pull up a bucket of water, Yan Xinmeng couldn’t help but approach. ‘Aunt Qian, let me help you with the water,’ she rolled up her sleeves, ready to help. ‘No need, Brother Xinmeng, look at your delicate skin, you might hurt your hands,’ Aunt Qian said cheerfully. ‘I’m not that weak!’ Yan Xinmeng said, but when she actually tried to pull up the water, she found she couldn’t. ‘Haha! This water is really heavy!’ she laughed awkwardly. Seeing Yan Xinmeng’s expression, Aunt Qian burst into laughter. ‘Let me, let me! This rough work isn’t for you.’ Aunt Qian took the rope from her. ‘I’m really sorry, Aunt Qian, I ended up being more of a hindrance,’ Yan Xinmeng said, lowering her head in embarrassment. ‘No worries! Just having the thought counts.’ Aunt Qian efficiently drew another bucket of water and then bent down to start washing the clothes. Yan Xinmeng looked at the well and then at Aunt Qian washing clothes, making a decision in her heart to help her somehow. After dinner that night, Yan Xinmeng asked Aunt Qian for a charcoal pencil and paper and then retreated to her room.”
Shang Bieye had no idea what Yan Xinmeng was doing, as he, Wu Yangfeng, and Bu Yuchen had other important matters to attend to, so they left her to it. Inside the room, Yan Xinmeng was seen sitting at a table, head bowed, sketching with charcoal, but no one could make out what she was drawing. Yan Xinmeng was so engrossed in her work that no one rushed her, not until the rooster crowed outside. “Huh? It’s dawn!” Yan Xinmeng looked up to find that the sky outside was already lightening. She stretched, turned her head, shook her hands, and patted her shoulders, then looked contentedly at the several drawings on the table. Despite her weary appearance, the thought of helping Aunt Qian filled her with joy. Everyone who glanced at Yan Xinmeng’s drawings was inwardly astonished. “Xinmeng, what kind of mechanism diagram is this?” Bu Yuchen stared wide-eyed at the drawing. “Mechanism?” Yan Xinmeng glanced at the drawing Bu Yuchen was looking at, “Oh, that’s not a mechanism! It’s just something I made using the principles of gears and levers.” “Gears? Principles of levers?” What were those? All three were puzzled. “Yes! It’s about applying the principles of gears and levers to the well. Besides installing a water lever, I’ve added several gears and attached ropes to them, making it much easier to draw water. This way, Aunt Qian won’t have to struggle so much in the future.” Yan Xinmeng explained, pointing at the sketches. “And what’s this?” Shang Bieye pointed to another drawing. “This is a laundry platform built by the well, slightly lower than Aunt Qian’s waist, so she won’t have to squat so much when washing clothes.” “And this one? What is it?” Wu Yangfeng pointed to the drawing in front of him. “This one is for washing large items like bed sheets and quilts. It’s designed to wring them out, similar to a spin dryer. To save Aunt Qian’s effort, I designed a water channel to guide the water flow, using its force to rotate the device, which helps the clothes dry quickly. Normally, when not wringing clothes, the water still flows, making this large windmill turn, which will cool Aunt Qian’s house in the summer.” “Xinmeng, how do you know all this?” Shang Bieye scrutinized each drawing, realizing the designs were interconnected in a way not typical of a novice, and was even more surprised by Yan Xinmeng’s mechanical talent. “That’s what our teachers taught us in school; these things were taught in middle school.” “Teachers? You’ve been asleep for the past sixteen years, how could you have attended school, and what exactly is a school?” Shang Bieye was baffled. “Oh, come on! Don’t ask so many questions. Just tell me, are we going to help Aunt Qian or not?” Yan Xinmeng didn’t want to delve into too many explanations; explaining everything would be endless. “Help! We’ll help Aunt Qian.” Bu Yuchen thumped his chest, turning to Shang Bieye and Wu Yangfeng, “We definitely will help, right?” Although they didn’t get the answers they wanted, there was no way they could refuse to help, and Shang Bieye and Wu Yangfeng were, of course, willing to lend a hand. “We definitely will help,” they said in unison. “Great, then let’s get started!” Yan Xinmeng said excitedly. When Aunt Qian saw the new, strange contraptions Yan Xinmeng and the others built for her, after Yan Xinmeng’s introduction and instructions, she tried them out herself. To her delight, they were indeed labor-saving and convenient, leading Aunt Qian to almost worship Yan Xinmeng and her companions as divine beings, for only gods could invent such oddities. Besides Yan Xinmeng, who was somewhat darker, the other three were all handsome and dashing, adept in both literary and martial arts, and Aunt Qian insisted they take Little Potato as their apprentice to keep by their side. Moved by Aunt Qian’s earnest pleas and Yan Xinmeng’s intercession, Shang Bieye reluctantly agreed to take Little Potato as his apprentice, but instructed him to wait until their business was concluded before taking him back. When they were about to leave, Aunt Qian was reluctant to let them go, and if not for Shang Bieye’s repeated refusals, they might not have been able to leave at all. A few days later, they finally entered the territory of the Black Fortress. They reached the town at the foot of the Black Fortress mountain. “A city! Big brother, look, it’s a city!” Yan Xinmeng exclaimed excitedly. “Xinmeng, even if you’re dressed as a man, try to maintain some composure, will you?” Bu Yuchen frowned and nagged. Actually, Bu Yuchen was teasing Yan Xinmeng, knowing well that she was always restless, and asking her to be composed was like asking for the impossible. “Brother Bu, stop pretending. You’re not the type to correct others; you need correcting yourself.” Yan Xinmeng retorted. “You little brat, don’t think you can be impudent just because Shang Bieye supports you.” Bu Yuchen raised his fist as if to strike her. “Brother Bu, don’t act tough. It’s said that scholars are useless, and look at you, raising your fist like that, clearly without any strength, yet you want to hit someone, tsk.” Yan Xinmeng scoffed at Bu Yuchen. “Ah! You little girl, do you believe if I really punched, you wouldn’t die instantly, but you’d cough up blood and die slowly?” Bu Yuchen knew Yan Xinmeng was mocking him, but he couldn’t help but respond. “I believe, I believe! Of course, I believe!” Yan Xinmeng shook her head and pretended to be sincere, then added, “I’m so scared!” After saying this, she stuck out her tongue and patted her chest in mock fear. “You…” Bu Yuchen was grinding his teeth in frustration. “Alright, you two, stop bickering every day. It’s like you’re fighting to the death, but you’re still the same. Yuchen, save your energy; you can’t outtalk Xinmeng.” Wu Yangfeng interrupted their squabble. “Yeah! Brother Bu, even Brother Wu knows you’re my defeated opponent. Save your energy.” Yan Xinmeng laughed. “Old Wu, even you’re helping her, sigh!” Bu Yuchen sighed, “I thought only Old Shang was fooled by her, but you’ve been deceived too. Confucius was right, only women and villains are hard to deal with!” “Yuchen, don’t drag me into this! I think you were the first to be fooled by her.” Wu Yangfeng teased back. “You two brothers, stop arguing! You’re the smartest and most insightful; you haven’t been fooled by me. I’m the one who’s been fooled, okay?” Yan Xinmeng stepped up as a peacemaker, which could have stopped the argument, but she couldn’t resist adding, “At your age, still arguing, really.”